Anyone ever attach marble tiles to plywood

[cakemanPA]

I am working on ideas for my skin for my stand. I am thinking about making it out of cabinet quality plywood, then sealing the wood to make it moisture "proof", and the covering the outside of the wood with marble tiles. In essence, it will look like a marble stand. I am thinking the the corners and top edges will be decorative tiles to look like columns. I have done tile on blue board and sheetrock, but never on wood.

Thoughts? Idea?

Thanks!

 

[Laddy]

Sort of......marble 12 x 12 exterior on durock, used a Hilty two-part epoxy which mixes in the nozzle.

Hope this helps.

 

[SkyReef]

Somewhat related: I intend to use a granite slab (not tiles) on the surface of my aquarium stand, which is way overbuilt to hold the added weight. It would be great if you could post pictures of your final build, so we can see what you went with on your build. Good luck!

 

[hillscp]

Sort of......marble 12 x 12 exterior on durock, used a Hilty two-part epoxy which mixes in the nozzle.

Hope this helps.

I used two part epoxy to stick black gabbro to the perimeter of my bathroom cabinet. Didn't have a Hilty though

I used 1/2 plywood on the top followed by 1/4 hardy backer. I stuck a plywood strip around the edge with epoxy and then after I mudded the gabbro on top I stuck mitered gabbro strips around the edge to make it look like a thick granite top.

Tedious work but it's still there after 4 years

 

[sim1killa]

Your not walking on it so you should be fine. Make sure you use white marble and granite thinnest. If you use green or black marble you may need a special type of thinnest to prevent wpossible. Warping or discoloration. How taIl of a stand might also need to install temp bracing to prevent tiles from falling. Also don't seal plywood were any tile will be or thinset won't stick.

Amy more questions let me know

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

I'm using left over soapstone from my home build, but they tiles are floating panels in front of a 3/4" blank. Can't help you very much aside from using baker board and thin set with the tiles, but now you are ply, bb, marble or 2x4, bb, marble. When I fixed the same soapstone tiles to the metal fireplace/wood stove, the kicks under the cabinets, the slab back splashes, I used a two part epoxy that stone workers use to fix and blend seams. I used the last of it on the miters for the fake slab on the stand, so I can't tell you what it was; it came in a green can with instructions in at least 10 languages on it. It mixed/ worked like bondo in that the main part is in a can and the catylist comes in a small tube. Even though soap stone is rather impervious it has remained well attached to the metal fire place for seven years now.

 

[cakemanPA]

That looks really nice!

I'm using left over soapstone from my home build, but they tiles are floating panels in front of a 3/4" blank. Can't help you very much aside from using baker board and thin set with the tiles, but now you are ply, bb, marble or 2x4, bb, marble. When I fixed the same soapstone tiles to the metal fireplace/wood stove, the kicks under the cabinets, the slab back splashes, I used a two part epoxy that stone workers use to fix and blend seams. I used the last of it on the miters for the fake slab on the stand, so I can't tell you what it was; it came in a green can with instructions in at least 10 languages on it. It mixed/ worked like bondo in that the main part is in a can and the catylist comes in a small tube. Even though soap stone is rather impervious it has remained well attached to the metal fire place for seven years now.

 

[bdr]

if your going to use a hilti product do a search with an I on the end not y. their drills and fasteners are second to none in my opinion but may bit a little bit expensive for this application. if your just using them as in the pic as vertical panels go to your local big box store and get a construction grade adhesive such as pl premium at a fraction of the cost in a caulking tube will work grat and you will never pull it off once set

 

[keithhays]

I am working on ideas for my skin for my stand. I am thinking about making it out of cabinet quality plywood, then sealing the wood to make it moisture "proof", and the covering the outside of the wood with marble tiles. In essence, it will look like a marble stand. I am thinking the the corners and top edges will be decorative tiles to look like columns. I have done tile on blue board and sheetrock, but never on wood.

Thoughts? Idea?

Thanks!

I would treat it the same way you would if you were putting up marble on a wall. You don't want anything flexing or everything falls apart. I would go with concrete backerboard of the type that is hung in bathrooms and then the marble.

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

The question I'm asking myself is wether I would let the tank be supported ( assuming its a rimmed tank) by the tile and a non ply substrate, or would I bear the tank on a more structural core? How large a tank is it? We're not talking about using drywall, rather products like dura rock and such.

 

[keithhays]

The question I'm asking myself is wether I would let the tank be supported ( assuming its a rimmed tank) by the tile and a non ply substrate, or would I bear the tank on a more structural core? How large a tank is it? We're not talking about using drywall, rather products like dura rock and such.

There is a much simpler calculation you can use for this. You will not see the surface of the stand once it is in place, so therefore spending money on that surface seems a waste. You would want a trim of the marble material, but not marble under it. Marble and for that matter granite which I have a lot of has very little strength in that direction and will break very easily.

 

[Charfish]

since you won't be walking across the tile-on-wood you shouldn't have a problem with the tile flexing and popping off however there could be humidity that absorbs into the wood, swells it, and pops the tile... I know you mentioned sealing the wood but you would need to seal the wood on both sides and edges and I believe that will lose its effectiveness one day...IMO

 

[fishgate]

I'd say do it the same way floors are installed in houses. I installed a marble floor and used regular thinset directly on the plywood subfloor. Since it is not intended to be walked on, I'd do a mortarless job where you but the tiles up right next to each other. Larger tiles (18-24") look better.

 

[cakemanPA]

I'll post some pictures. This is going to be a removable skin. I am going to have a frame with wheels to aid with rolling it out of the way for maintenance.

 

[rwing5959]

I own a dog kennel and we have tilled all of the walls in our dog kennels. I used Loctite adhesive( You can find it by the caulk in any home store) to glue all of the wall tiles on in my 30 kennels. It will hold great and you should never have a problem. For all the nay sayers who think this is crazy, my tile has been up for 6 years with heavy use and no problems at all. This is a no brainer...get some caulk and glue those suckers on. Good luck!